Automotive

The automotive industry has been one of the most profitable sectors of the Romanian economy in recent years and is currently going through a favorable period, with consecutive increases in the last years of new car purchases at local level. Many investors are establishing and developing more complex operations in Romania, thus shifting the focus of their employment policies from cheap labour, towards a highly skilled, diverse and globally competitive workforce.

The Romanian automotive industry includes two car producers, namely Dacia (part of Renault group) – Romania’s top automotive company by revenue and the largest exporter, constituting 8% of the last year’s country’s total exports – and Ford, and more than 400 car parts manufacturers, such as Porsche with its R&D centre for the region, Suzuki, Opel and others. In Romania, export represents the main lever of growth, with the number of exported cars significantly exceeding the number of imported cars each year, ensuring a significant trade surplus in the balance of payments.

Stratulat Albulescu Attorneys at Law understands very well the automotive market and has a driving ambition to assist the clients across every aspect of their companies’ operations. The automotive is one of our largest industry sectors.

Our team of lawyers understands the sector and knows how the clients’ businesses work. We partner with businesses of all shapes and sizes and we are known for our fair and transparent advice, tailored to the client’s unique situation. Our clients benefit from the experience of lawyers who have worked for many years in the automotive industry.

• Advising CCBA Verwaltungs GmbH, part of the German Group Aunde, in relation to the simplified merger control procedure before the Romanian Competition Council.
• Acting as co-counsel for Atlas Copco on the acquisition of the Scheugenpflug Group, one of the leading manufacturers of adhesive bonding, dispensing and potting systems for synthetic resins and thermally conductive pastes.
• Advising Amphenol, a leading global supplier of advanced technological solutions for the automotive industry, in the acquisition process of the Romanian subsidiaries of GJM, a leading Spanish original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of key components for the automotive industry.
• Advising AL-KO Kober Group, a global player in the gardening, air technology and automotive sectors, on the sale of one of its divisions, AL-KO Actuation Systems GmbH.
• Advising the shareholders of Chimica SA, one of the largest Romanian auto parts manufacturers and largest supplier of parts to Automotive Dacia Pitesti, on the sale of 50% of their business to a large Italian auto parts manufacturer.
• We have partnered with Italian lawyers in order to assist the Italian subsidiary of one of the world leaders in car manufacturing. Our mandate consisted in drafting an extensive legal opinion over the use of telematics on cars in order to activate the medical emergency rescue, when necessary. Our review was presumed to offer the data protection/technology perspective over the potential implications of using such systems on cars that shall be marketed in Romania.
• Advised Automobile Dacia SA, part of the French Automotive Group Renault, in relation to the lease of a property development in Bucharest including a 39,000 sq.m. Class A build-to-suit building.